The elimination of snoring and the various degrees of hypopnea and apnea have been attempted because of their various effects on the body. Such conditions typically occur due to pathological disturbances during sleep. One of the reasons of sleep disturbance is due to the tongue relaxing to varying degrees. When fully awake, the tongue has a normal tone and position within the mouth as air passes in and out of the lungs during respiration. Patency of the airway passage between the posterior wall of the pharynx and the base of the tongue is typically maintained for a normal unobstructed airway when the tongue is retained in its natural position.
However, during sleep, as the tongue becomes lax it may collapse against the posterior wall of the pharynx not only causing snoring, but also obstructing the passage of air to the lungs. When the tongue is in its relaxed and collapsed state, the base of the tongue pushes against the soft palate and also obstructs the airway passage.
Conditions such as sleep apnea not only causes drops in the blood oxygenation level, but and may also adversely affect the heart by increasing blood pressure and pulse rate. Many aspects of a person's quality of life, such as a person's physical and emotional health, are affected by obstructive sleep apnea.
A number of conventional treatments exist. For example, conventional treatments such as mask and nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices are typically utilized but compliance is poor and may cause discomfort in the user. Other treatments such as tongue retaining devices are typically made of soft plastic and utilize a tongue-shaped cavity to hold and maintain the tongue in a forward position. Such devices physically clamp onto the tongue using a mechanical grip or retain a portion of the tongue by utilizing a suction device. However, these methods may generally fail due to discomfort by having the tongue protruded at all times even when the patient is awake and/or breathing normally. Moreover, the tongue may not be secured by the suction device at all times.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system which maintains the patency of a person's airways during sleep and which is comfortable enough and easy to use to facilitate compliance by the user.